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Kurapika
Kurapika is one of the four main protagonists in the anime/manga series Hunter × Hunter. He seeks vengeance for his clan's death at the hands of the Phantom Troupe. He is voiced by Yuki Kaida in the Japanese version of the 1999 anime and Cheryl McMaster in the English version while in the 2011 anime, he is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro in the Japanese version and Erika Harlacher in the English version. Personality Kurapika is an intelligent individual, possessing vast knowledge. He is reticent; not one to open up to people easily and quite judgmental. His distance from others initially keeps him level-headed and moralistic, but his heart has been poisoned with sadness and hatred. Having been traumatized from losing everyone he loved at the age of twelve, Kurapika closes his heart to new people and remains introverted as to stay focused on his goal. Though Kurapika outwardly states that he desires to become a Blacklist Hunter and his ultimate goal is to capture the band of thieves that massacred his family, he is willing to compromise his personal morality and delve into the squalid side of society in order to achieve his goal. He is prone to fits of uncontrollable anger should the memory of his clan be insulted in any way. After becoming a professional Hunter, Kurapika starts upon a self-destructive path. His anger leads him to commit villainous acts of wrath as catharsis for his pain. Kurapika's reserved demeanor makes him very ruthless and unreasonable, but his friends are the only ones able to slightly settle his seething enough for him to think rationally. Even so, he grows to consider his friendships to be a weakness hindering him from succeeding in his aims. Background Kurapika is a member of the Kurta Clan. As a child, Kurapika almost fell from a cliff if not for the interference of his best friend, Pairo. While he was unharmed, his friend Pairo had harmed both his legs and both of his eyes and their condition gets worse everyday. This incident deeply affects Kurapika with feelings of guilt. Considering this as his own fault, he decided to solve it by going to the outside world and bringing back the best doctor to cure Pairo. Kurapika thus approached the Kurta Clan's elder to request to go to the outside world but he was constantly refused and argued with the elder, seeing the Kurta Clan's fear of the outside world as unreasonable and backward. After the argument, he talked to Pairo and they had a conversation about the "mysterious" world which give Kurapika some clues and facts. At some point, Kurapika and Pairo saved a female outsider called Shilah, and as thanks she gives them a book about the adventures of a professional Hunter in the outside world which they read together and kept preciously. After the outsider girl left, Kurapika realized that the Kurta Clan's elder had stolen it and confronted him about it. Having an argument again, the clan elder finally allowed Kurapika to take the test to go to the outside world. Studying hard and passing all the tests successfully, the elder gave him his last test: to go shopping in the outside world with a partner without revealing their Scarlet Eyes. Kurapika chose Pairo as his partner, much to everyone's shock. After departing for the outside world for the last test, Pairo eventually fell asleep during the journey to the town and Kurapika decided within himself that he will pass the test to go to the outside world and find a doctor that can cure Pairo and after that, they will explore the outside world together. Kurapika passes the final test with some difficulty, but has been granted unrestricted permission to go to the outside world as promised by the clan elder. Before leaving, Kurapika promises Pairo that he will return with a doctor and that they will one day go to the outside world together. He also promised Pairo that he will have fun and enjoy himself while outside, having adventures just like the Hunter they read about from Shilah's book. 6 weeks later, while Kurapika was away, the Kurta Clan was approached by the Phantom Troupe for their valuable eyes and massacred. The news reported the death of all 128 members of the Kurta Clan and of scores of dead bodies with eyes gouged out in their wake. As the last surviving member of his clan, Kurapika vows to gain back all the stolen eyes of his people and to arrest all of the members of the Troupe. Abilities & Powers Kurapika's powers increase greatly as the series progress. Hisoka was the first to grow interested in him, listing him as one of the "green fruit" with vast potential. Although at the beginning he was weaker than Killua, during the Yorknew City arc he has become much stronger than him thanks to his Nen abilities. He is one of the few characters (the others being Hisoka and Silva) to have killed a member of the infamous Phantom Troupe, and a very potent one. His exceptional intelligence is matched by high combat prowess and iron will that stems from his desire for revenge. He is also very versatile as he has been seen wielding different weapons. In his showdown with Uvogin he used his chains when afar and hand-to-hand combat at close quarter. While he usually maintains a calm and collected persona, he tends to lose his cool whenever the Phantom Troupe is nominated and often cannot control himself. Enhanced strength: After training at Zebro's house, Kurapika managed to open the first door of the Testing Gate, whose total weight is 4 tons. His strength increases when his eyes turn scarlet: even as a child he was able to beat three thugs while enraged. With Nen his blows become more destructive, to the point he can not only inflict pain to Uvogin despite the latter's body being impervious to bullets, but also inflict damage on him. Enhanced speed and reflexes: Kurapika struck Uvogin various times before he could react and even disappeared out of sight in a space clear of hideouts with a leap. He can catch bullets with his chain, which he himself stated can entrap a target at a distance of 26 meters in 0.5 seconds. Enhanced agility: Kurapika can jump several meters in the air and hit his opponents from various angles with acrobatic moves without losing his balance. This is first proven when he leaps on top of a chandelier during the exam to be hired by Light Nostrade and later in the confrontation against Uvogin. Immense pain resistance: Possibly due to the loathing he harbors toward the Phantom Troupe and the absolute determination to win the fight, Kurapika seemed almost unfazed by Uvogin breaking his arm. However, in the anime Hisoka's blows caused him pain. Genius-level intellect: Kurapika is one of the smartest characters in the series. He outmaneuvered minds of Chrollo's level with his perfect strategies and his predictions have rarely turned out to be wrong. Because of his intelligence, he was appointed leader of Neon's bodyguards after the demise of Dalzollene. He can formulate accurate plans even in combat to exploit his opponent's weaknesses to the fullest. Intuition is matched by logical thinking and meticulous preparations. In the anime it was demonstrated that he has a developed instinct as he dodged an acorn imbued with Nen without knowing anything of inner energy but understanding in a moment it would have been lethal for him to be hit. He also has an immense deal of knowledge about nearly everything, ranging from psychology to other cultures, from history to forensic, a quality that surprised his brethren when he was only a child. Thanks to his bottomless long for new notions, he is a fast learner with an impressive memory. Although he can retain his cool in desperate situations, he can barely stick to his own plan when it concerns the Phantom Troupe, to the extent he might even snap and endanger not only himself, but his friends as well. Proficient in hand-to-hand combat: While it is unclear if he has ever received proper training in martial arts, he was able to land several punches and kicks on a fighter specialized in unarmed combat such as Uvogin with almost no damage on his part. Proficient in nunchaku handling: With the full extent of his abilities in the field being unknown, Kurapika used a pair of bokken swords linked by a thread before learning Nen and could wielded them also as a nunchaku. Proficient in swordsmanship: At the beginning of the story, Kurapika's weapon of choice was a pair of bokken swords that, in the 1999 anime, concealed two blades. He displayed the ability to use them skillfully against Hisoka. Master in the usage of chains: Kurapika is extremely skilled with his chains. He can move them with such mastery that they act as natural extensions of his limbs, being even able to entangle targets at a distance of almost 30 meters in less than a second. The chains are suited for both offensive and defensive purposes (usually the Dowsing Chain) as well as immobilizing the opponent (Chain Jail). Imbued with his Nen, they gain an abnormal destructive power, as commented by Uvogin, which allows them to easily break through rock. Nen Kurapika is a Conjurer, a Nen user that can create objects out of thin air according to his imagination, but he becomes a Specialist when his eyes turn red. He learned Nen in a very short time, as stated by various characters throughout the series, and is deemed a very skilled user. The weapon that he conjures is a unique one — five chains that extend from each finger on his right hand. Some of the fingers were specially designed to deal vengeance on the Phantom Troupe. By using a Limitation that puts his own life at stake, his abilities were boosted greatly. He is able to conceal his chain using In in order to bind his opponent without their knowledge until it is too late. Since the chains are materialized, they can be extended and swelled to a certain degree. Kurapika is also proficient in all the other branches on Nen, suited for both combat, such as Shu, and analysis, such as Gyo. Repeated usage of his Scarlet Eyes combined with Nen takes a heavy toll on his mind and body, causing an incapacitating high fever that, after the death of Pakunoda, lasted several days and could not be relieved by Melody's flute. Trivia *Miyuki Sawashiro also voices Milla Maxwell, Shion Karanomori and Bishamonten. *Kurapika is very similar to Sasuke Uchiha. Both are part of a clan that was slaughtered five years before the beginning of the story (the Kurtas and the Uchihas, respectively), both exist solely to take revenge on the ones responsible, both are very stoic and tend to keep their distance from others and both have eyes that turn red whenever they're angry. 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